Fragmented
by ValerieViolette
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is sent to Shell Cottage to investigate the death of Victoire Lupin. When he's there, however, he begins to see a much different side to the Weasley family, a side that includes family secrets, grudges, affairs, and maybe a much more sinister event behind it all...
1. Chapter 1: Meeting the Family

Scorpius Malfoy stood outside Shell Cottage, preparing himself before knocking on the door. He had never liked this type of investigation, the one where he would have to deal with grieving families. He wasn't the sympathetic type of person, even though he was an investigator. Usually, being in this line of work meant having some ability to sympathize with people. Scorpius seemed to be missing this.

He straightened his suit, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door three times. The ocean waves were crashing onto the beach. He thought about the family he was about to meet.I bet they hate living next to the beach now, he thought. It took a minute for someone to come to the door. In the open doorway was an older man with a large scar on his face. "Yes?" he said. His eyes were as red as his hair.

"Are you Mr. Bill Weasley?" he asked. The man nodded his head. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy; I'm here to investigate your daughter's death." The man nodded, and let Scorpius inside the house. The morning light peeked through the white curtains that were hanging on every window that Scorpius could see. There was the smell of fresh biscuits in the air. Mr. Weasley led Scorpius from the front room to the living room. Nearly everyone in the Weasley-Lupin family was there, sitting quietly save the occasional cough. "Mr. Malfoy," Mr. Weasley said, "This is my son, Louis."

"He already knows me," Louis grumbled. He barely glanced at Scorpius before he went back to shaking his leg up and down. He looked impatient.

Mr. Weasley ignored his son's attitude; he was probably used to it after twenty-four years. "This is my son-in-law, Teddy Lupin. He is…" Mr. Weasley paused for a second. "He _was_ my daughter's husband." Teddy greeted Scorpius with a brief nod and a small, forced smile. Scorpius returned the gesture. "My wife isn't taking the news very well, so she's upstairs. Do you need to see her right now?"

"No, that's alright," Scorpius said, "But I will need to talk to her later." They all took their seats, and Scorpius took a few seconds to get his notepad out. "I'm sorry for your loss," he told the family. His voice was void of any compassion. "I know it must be hard, but I'll need to ask you a few questions." When it seemed that everyone agreed, Scorpius continued. "Why was the victim here the night she passed?" There was silence amongst them. Louis was twirling his blond hair now; Teddy was tapping his fingers against the side of his face; and Mr. Weasley was clenching and unclenching his hands. "…One of you is going to have to answer me," Scorpius told them.

Louis groaned. "We all came back for our parents' wedding anniversary, though it would've been better if none of us came back." He looked at his father. "You know, if _this_ was going to happen," he added quickly. Teddy was now biting his thumbnail. Louis did not seem sad about his sister's death, even though it happened two days ago. He seemed more annoyed that he even had to be there. "We were supposed to leave today, but, _of course_, Victoire just had to make us stay here longer than usual."

"She _died_, for fucks sake!" Teddy snapped at his brother-in-law.

Louis rolled his eyes. "What does it matter to you?"

"She is…" Teddy paused. "She _was_ my wife; of course it matters to me!"

"Not enough for you to not cheat on her."

Teddy took a quick glance over at Scorpius before staring at the floor, and shrunk into the sofa. Louis started twirling his hair again. Scorpius made a quick note about Teddy's infidelity. "May I continue with the questioning?" He had been doing his job for too long to be swayed by a family argument. Mr. Weasley, who had been quiet the entire time Louis and Teddy argued, nodded to his question. "Was the victim acting strange in any way in the days leading up to her passing?"

"No," Teddy answered.

"Like you would know," Louis scoffed.

Scorpius sighed loudly. "I'm going to need you to answer my questions…with_out_ the snide remarks." Mr. Weasley shot his son a sharp look. Louis shrunk a bit into the sofa. Scorpius was about to continue with his questions when the front door opened, and a woman with bright red hair and a trench coat walked into the room. They stared at each for moment, blinking, before Scorpius looked over to Mr. Weasley for an explanation. Mr. Weasley quickly looked down before he answered Scorpius's silent question.

"This is my other daughter, Dominique We—"

"Good morning, I'm Dominique Cassels," she said, cutting her father off. There was a stark difference between her, and Louis. "And you are?"

"Good morning, Miss Cassels. I'm Scorpius Malfoy; I'm here to investigate your sister's death." Dominique mouthed an O. "Would you please sit down so I can question you with the rest of your family?" She complied with Scorpius's wishes. She unbelted her coat before she sat in the gap between Louis and Teddy. Louis discreetly inched away from her while Teddy did the opposite. Mr. Weasley avoided looking in their direction. Scorpius made a note of the room's rise in uneasiness. "Okay, so before you arrived late, Miss Cassels, I asked if the victim, your sister—"

"Half-sister," Dominique interrupted.

"—had been acting strangely in any way the days leading up to her passing. Did you notice anything that may be significant? A small detail can be very important."

"Well, for one," Dominique started. She flicked some of her hair over her shoulder. Teddy's eyes lingered on her a little too long. "You shouldn't ask either of them—" she motioned to Louis and Teddy "—questions about Victoire. They weren't even around her long enough to notice anything. Victoire was…she wasn't completely here."

"Could you clarify?"

Dominique sighed. "It was like she had something else on her mind. A couple days before she was—before she died, she cut herself with a knife because she was in a complete daze." Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows at what she said, but nodded, and wrote it down in his notepad.

"Did anything happen on the day she passed?" he asked. "Did she say or do anything that strange, or not like herself?"

"What are you implying, Malfoy?" Teddy asked suddenly. "You think she killed herself?" He sounded a little bit more hostile than before.

"I need to know everything that happened before her passing, that's all, Mr. Lupin," Scorpius said calmly. "Do _you_ have suspicions that she killed herself?" Scorpius asked, turning the question around.

He shook his head and stared the floor. "She wouldn't do that. That's not like her at all." Louis rolled his eyes and groaned. "What?"

"Apparently you didn't know your wife that well," Louis said.

"It's not like you knew her that well, either," Dominique mumbled.

Teddy glared at Louis. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Have you been so distant from her that you didn't even notice that she's been acting differently?" Louis leaned forward to get a look at Teddy. "Why did you even come here? Oh, wait… never mind; stupid question." He shook his head. "And, Dominique, I think I knew my sister more than you did. You know, since I've known her my whole life while you've only known her for four years." He got up from the sofa.

"Time doesn't matter…" Dominique murmured.

Louis ignored her. "Excuse me…" It seemed like he struggled on whether or not to address Scorpius as Mr. Malfoy or not. "I'll answer your questions later…without _either of them_ here." With that, Louis left the cottage through what Scorpius guessed was a back door. The sound of it opening and slamming shut echoed in the now quiet sitting room.

Teddy didn't bother with excusing himself, and just hurried out the front door.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat uncomfortably, and excused himself to go check on his wife.

Dominique was the only one left. She didn't look concerned over what had just happened.

"Oh my god," Scorpius whispered. "This is going to take longer than I thought." He hadn't even gone through all of the normal questions, and he was already stressed out. He didn't even care about the fact that Victoire Lupin was dead, and, though he didn't want to admit it, he was on Louis' side on this subject. She was making everyone stay there way longer than usual. It took him a few moments to calm down. He cleared his throat when he looked up at Dominique. "Shall I continue with the questioning?"

Dominique stared at him with a smirk. "We could."

"Okay. So, Miss Ca—"

"But I have to go to town to get some things." Scorpius nodded quietly. He closed his notepad and was putting it back into his jacket when Dominique kept talking. "You should come with me."

It was quiet for a few moments. "What?"

"It'd be rude to leave our guest alone. Plus, I'm sure the others won't answer your questions, so you should come with me." She smiled lightly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"I don't have to go with you," he said. "If your brother-in-law, or your brother—"

"Half-brother."

"—don't want to answer my questions, I can trouble your father or your mother—"

"That woman isn't my mother," Dominique stated harshly. Her eyes narrowed for a second, as if warning him to not say that again. "She's not my mother." Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off again. "You're not going to get anything out of them, since they're not ready to answer any questions—"

"Your father was answering my questions just fine, Miss Cassels."

"From what I saw, he didn't answer any questions." Dominique stared at Scorpius for a long minute. Scorpius tried not to look at her, but he kept making eye contact. An attractive woman like her staring him down was making him very uncomfortable. "Mr. Malfoy," Dominique said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Would you rather go into town with me, someone who is willing to answer your questions, or delay finishing your investigation because you were being stubborn?"

Scorpius looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "I think you're the one who's being stubborn here."

"Okay, fine," Dominique replied. She belted her coat again, and went toward the front door. Scorpius stumbled to follow her to the door; the girl moved very quickly. Right before she left the cottage, she looked over her shoulder, and said, "There are some biscuits in the kitchen if you want to eat while you're waiting for who knows how long before anyone in this house will answer your questions." She smirked a little. "Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy." She closed the door, leaving Scorpius alone in the front room.

He took her advice, and went into the kitchen for a small breakfast of buttery biscuits. He took two of their baking sheet, and leaned against the kitchen counter. The cottage felt so much quieter than when he first got there; he could hear the sea waves crashing onto the beach from inside now. He wondered if it would be rude for him to try and find Mr. Weasley for more questions. He did say that he was going to check on his wife, and since she didn't come down for the questioning, it's most likely that she's very distraught. And he didn't know where Louis or Teddy were.

Scorpius chuckled a little before taking a deep breath. Fine, he thought, have it your way. He took an extra biscuit, and walked over to the cottage's front door. He opened it to an unexpected scene. Dominique was right next to the door, leaning and tapping her foot against the porch floor. She was smirking at him. "Well, well, well," she said, "it looks like you decided to stop being stubborn. Good for you, Mr. Malfoy. Now—" she clapped her hands "—let's go."

She walked down the porch steps, and he followed. "You are going to answer my questions, right?"

Dominique looked over her shoulder, and smirked at Scorpius. "Why, of course."


	2. Chapter 2: Dominique

Scorpius trailed behind Dominique as she walked through the small town of Tinworth. She acted as though her half-sister didn't die a few days before. Thirty minutes had gone by without a single one of Scorpius's questions being answered. Dominique had always changed the subject to what jam she should buy, or how many boxes of tissues she should buy or what she should wear for her half-sister's funeral—she still emphasized the fact that they were only half siblings. Needless to say, the deal they made right before they left Shell Cottage was ripped up and thrown into the wind.

"Miss Cassels," Scorpius called out. She was a good three feet ahead of him.

"Yes?"

"I'm getting the feeling that you had no intention of answering any of my questions."

"Aren't you a smart one?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes as he quickened his pace. For someone walking in high heels, Dominique sure moved quickly. Scorpius barely shortened the distance between them when she walked into a small café. He sighed quickly before he followed her in. The café was very dark, with only some of the overhead lights turned on, and none of the windows opened. There was the heavy scent of coffee, vanilla, and wafers in the air. The barista nodded and smiled at Dominique, but stared at Scorpius as he followed her. He didn't seem that friendly.

Dominique had sat in the darkest area of the café, in a way back booth. She motioned for Scorpius to sit with her, which he did, reluctantly. "Did you ask me to come with you just so you could have a cup of coffee, Miss Cassels?" She ignored him, and avoided meeting his eyes, though it wasn't hard in the dark section they were in. Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, but shut it, and leaned against the cushioned back of the booth. The barista came to them with a steaming cappuccino, and a plate of wafers for Dominique. He plopped down a cup of black coffee in front of Scorpius, and left before there was any protest.

"Don't worry about him," Dominique said after a sip of her cappuccino. "He gets jealous of any man he sees me with. He has this…" She waved her cup around, trying to find the right words.

"Obsession?"

She snorted. "No, that's a little…creepy. No, no, he has this…unrequited love for me."

Scorpius nodded, "Like someone else I suspect."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. He grimaced at the sharp, bitter flavor of his coffee before he spoke. "May I ask you something?"

"You already are."

"Alright, then," he started, "why are we here?"

Dominique looked up from her cappuccino, and sighed as she put it in its saucer. "You wanted to continue your investigation, right? That's what I'm helping you do."

"We had to come all the way to a café to do that?"

"Well, I'm guessing your questions aren't going to be confined to my half-sister's death."

"Really? Then, what else would they be about?"

"I don't know," Dominique said. "Maybe they'd be about my relationship with my brother-in-law."

Scorpius smiled at her. "Is there something else going on between you two?"

Dominique returned his smile. "Don't play me like fool, Mr. Malfoy. You're an investigator, aren't you? I know that you picked up on some things while we were at my father's house." Scorpius shrugged casually while Dominique stared at him. "Mr. Malfoy, don't try and be discreet. I know what you think."

"And what is that?"

"I know you think I'm having an affair with my brother-in-law."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Well, you can cross 'mind reader' off your list of potential jobs." Dominique stared at him while she took a sip of her cappuccino. "I think you underestimate me, Miss Cassels." She raised her eyebrows. "I've been doing this job for years now, and I'm able to tell if there is an affair, and who is having it. Now, in this case, I can clearly tell that there is no affair."

Dominique smirked. "Are you so sure?"

Scorpius smirked right back. "Quite sure. Now, I'm the one who's supposed to be asking the questions here." He took his notepad out again, and opened it to the last page he was on. "Before your brother—excuse me, _half_-brother and brother-in-law started arguing, I asked if the victim had done anything strange or unlike herself. Did she?" Dominique avoided eye contact as she took a bite of a wafer. Scorpius tapped his pen against the table; it was in tune with her especially slow chewing. "Could you please answer before the next Ice Age dawns?"

"I saw her on the sea bluff in the afternoon," Dominique finally answered.

Scorpius started to write it down, but stopped. "How is that unusual?"

"Victoire doesn't like water. She never goes anywhere near it."

"Except," Scorpius said, "her parent's cottage, of course." Dominique looked away. "Was there anything else?"

"I saw her up there again the night she, you know, died. I…" Dominique trailed off when the barista came back with a glass of water. He put it in front her, smiled, and walked away. He ignored Scorpius. He watched the barista walk his way back to the front counter. The barista was paying considerably less attention to the small number of customers that had come in. When he turned back to Dominique, her stare lingered on the barista. "What were we talking about? Oh, right." She took a sip of her water before continuing. "I think I saw someone up there with her."

"There was someone with her the night she died?" Scorpius quickly wrote that down.

"I'm not sure," Dominique said. "It was late, and dark, and I didn't have my contacts in when I saw her out there." Scorpius slowly nodded, and turned a page in his notepad. He continued writing, and didn't say anything for a minute or two. Dominique stared at his downturned head. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes?" Scorpius didn't look up from his notes.

"Why did you stop being friends with my half-brother?" Scorpius stopped writing abruptly. He was still looking downward, but he remained perfectly still. "I saw some photos of the two of you when you two were younger. I even have one." Scorpius snapped his head up just as Dominique produced a photograph out of her coat pocket. It was still in perfect condition, even though it was many years old. Scorpius stared down at it for a while before looking up at Dominique. "You guys looked happy. What happened?" He narrowed his eyes at her before snapping the photo away, and ripping it up.

Dominique just stared as he reduced the photograph into small pieces of shredded paper. "I'm the one who's supposed to be answering questions here, okay? Don't bring up my past; don't try and change the subject. I'm here investigating your half-sister's death. That's it—" he slammed his hand on the table "—so don't try to make me go down memory lane. If you do, I _will_ suspect you had something to do with your half-sister's death. Got it?" Dominique took a deep breath, and nodded. She suddenly looked intimidated, and tried very hard to avoid looking Scorpius in the eye. Scorpius groaned, and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was quiet for a long minute. "Sorry. Look, I—" he groaned again. "Look, can you get lover boy over here to throw away this paper?"

Dominique quickly looked at him before getting the barista's attention, though it wasn't that hard. He came over to them, and scooped the shreds of paper into his hand. He looked at Dominique, and then at Scorpius. He narrowed his eyes for a second before he left. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

Scorpius sighed, and closed his notepad. "No, I don't."

Dominique stood up and left as soon as he finished his sentence. He heard her high heels clicking against the floor as she stormed out the café, the front door slamming shut behind her. Scorpius stared at the empty seat in front of him, biting the inside of his cheek. It was going to take a while before she would talk to him again. Now, he had to get answers for his other questions from Louis, Teddy, Mr. Weasley, and his wife. Just as Scorpius leaned his head back, the barista appeared and slapped the bill on the table. He gave Scorpius a glare before he went back to his station at the front counter. Scorpius paid the bill, and left. He felt the barista staring at his back as he walked out.

Don't mess with a guy's obsession, I guess…


	3. Chapter 3: Teddy

Scorpius made his way back to Shell Cottage, trailing behind Dominique. _She must really know to walk those shoes_, Scorpius thought. She was way ahead of him, and it didn't seem like she was concerned about the distance between the two of them. He had to admit himself: he would react the same way she was at that moment. He had acted skeptically, concerned even, and suddenly became very aggressive at the mention of his past relationship with her half-brother. That's enough reason for most people to keep some distance, even if the person in question is an investigator.

Coming up to the beach, Scorpius started walking down the wooden set of stairs that led down to Shell Cottage. Dominique was carefully making her way down the stairs. She was almost at the bottom. From afar, the cottage's roof looked like it was shimmering from the sun's rays. Scorpius heard the creaking of the wooden stairs for every step he made. Reaching the bottom, he stood beside Dominique as she took of her shoes, so she could walk through the sand. "Miss Cassels," he said, "I would like to apologize again for the way I acted—"

"It's fine, Mr. Malfoy," she said, cutting him off. "I shouldn't have mentioned it anyway. It's unrelated to…" She trailed off as she started looking past him. She cleared her throat, and said, "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Malfoy."

"Where are you going?" asked a voice that could only belong to Louis. "Don't leave on my account." Louis walked up to the both of them, his shoes in hands, barefoot wedged in the sand. "Hello…" he still struggled on how to address Scorpius. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy," he said. Scorpius put a polite smile on his face, and reluctantly turned around. He barely looked at him before Louis started walking right past him. "I'll talk to you later," he said, walking away.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, and started walking toward Shell Cottage. Dominique quickly followed and surpassed him, walking up the porch steps. She went inside, leaving the door slightly open for Scorpius. It took him a minute to get to the door. Before he could push the door open, he heard conversation inside. "Teddy, let me go."

"I just need to talk to you."

"Talking usually doesn't involved touching. Now, let me go."

Scorpius pushed the door open, getting an image to the sounds he heard. Her shoes in her left hand, Dominique was standing right in front of the stairs. She struggled to get Teddy to let go of her right arm as he stared down at her. Scorpius closed the front door behind him, announcing his presence. As soon as the door clicked shut, Teddy turned and saw who it was. He immediately let go of Dominique's arm. She barely looked back before rushing up the stairs. The sound of a door slamming echoed through the house.

Teddy cleared his throat uncomfortably. Scorpius walked up to him, waiting for him to say something. "Um…that…that wasn't what it looked like," he said.

"Really? So you weren't holding a lady against her will?" Teddy looked down at the floor, shamefully, shoving his hands into his pant pockets. Scorpius made a mental note of what he saw before he continued talking. "Since you're back, Mr. Lupin, I'm guessing you've calmed down since we last saw each other." He put on a polite smile. "I presume I can continue my investigation. Am I correct?" Teddy nodded, still avoiding his eyes.

"We could go upstairs, to my wife's room…her old room." Scorpius nodded, and followed Teddy upstairs. The hallway they ended up in was well-lit with sunlight coming through the white curtains. There were two doors on the left side, two on the right. It looked like there was another further down. "Those two—" Teddy motioned to the doors on the left side "—are Louis' and Dominique's bedrooms."

"This room is," he said as he opened the door. "Excuse me, my wife's bedroom. That's a closet, and further down is my in-law's bedroom. If you would," he said, motioning Scorpius through the open door. Inside, the room was much different compared to the rest of the house. Instead of the pristine white and accenting creams and browns, the room was mostly light blue. The walls, the extra chair, the bed, the rug were all light blue. The only things that weren't were the computer desk and chair, dresser, curtains, headboard, and the closet doors. "My mother-in-law painted this room specifically for my wife. Blue's her favorite color."

Scorpius nodded, and went over the extra chair tucked in the far left corner of the room. It was well-lit by the light coming through the window. Teddy closed the bedroom door behind him, and took his seat at the computer desk. "Now, Mr. Lupin," Scorpius said, retrieving his notepad and pencil, "how has your relationship with your wife been?"

"It's been good."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Is that so? I remember your brother-in-law mentioning that you had an affair—" Teddy shifted in his seat "—and I don't think a 'good' relationship would involve affairs."

"Maybe you've been in the wrong relationships," Teddy laughed. Scorpius did not. Teddy's smile waned into a frown. "Okay, fine, our relationship hadn't been going so well."

"When did your affair start?"

"Is this important?" Teddy asked. His voice sounded somewhat desperate. Scorpius gave him a look, and Teddy sighed. "I had an affair about five years ago; it lasted about four months."

"Did your wife find out?" Teddy shook his head. "Did your brother-in-law find out?" Teddy shook his head again. "Did you have another affair that he did found out about?"

"I had two; one was a one-night-stand, the other lasted about three months. Louis found out about both of them. He soon found out about my first one. But, other than those times, I haven't cheated on my wife."

Scorpius finished writing in his notepad, and said, "But you've wanted to, am I right?"

"Excuse me?"

"You wanted to begin a relationship with your sister-in-law—or half-sister-in-law—right?"

Teddy looked shocked at Scorpius's suggestion. "No, no," he denied. He got up from his seat, and started walking around the room. He walked over to the dresser, and started messing with a ballerina figurine. "I wouldn't do that. There's no way I would."

"Are you sure about that, Mr. Lupin?"

Teddy turned around, and stared at Scorpius. "Of course I am."

Scorpius tapped his pen on his notepad. "Mr. Lupin, it's quite obvious to me that you have some non-platonic feelings for your sister-in-law. I'm guessing—tell me if I'm wrong here—that you've acted on them, and Miss Cassels didn't want to be a part of your adulterous lifestyle. And now that your wife is dead, you're trying to start a legitimate relationship with her, but she still doesn't want to be with you." Scorpius stopped talking, waiting for a response.

Teddy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. His fingers were fidgeting with the ballerina figurine's upturned arms. He sighed, and put the figurine back in its original spot. "Fine, Mr. Malfoy, fine…" He sat down on the edge of the bed. "There is something going on between Dominique and me." Scorpius nodded as he wrote in his notepad. Teddy laughed lightly. "Well, it's more one-sided than anything."

"Could you tell me when this…_relationship_ started?"

Teddy laughed again. "Relationship isn't exactly the word I would use; more like an impossible desire." He rubbed his nose a little. "I met Dominique four years ago, a couple of days after my in-law's wedding anniversary. She was sitting out on the porch steps, smoking a cigarette, and just…wow, she was—well, she is still—gorgeous. She just blew me away. I felt like I married the wrong person."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "And?"

"And, well, you know that I'm a cheater, what do you think I did? I started flirting with her. We were talking for a little while before Louis came out, and interrupted us. He was all angry, and yelled at us—well, mainly me—and asked how I could talk to the person that was ruining his family. I learned right then that she was my father-in-law's illegitimate daughter from an affair years ago." Scorpius nodded, and wrote down the new information.

"Okay, I guess that's the beginning," Scorpius said, "but could you talk about when your relationship turned romantic?"

Teddy sighed. "It's never been romantic, though. I've tried—oh, trust me—I've tried to start an affair, but I guess the mother-like-daughter thing doesn't apply to Dominique." Scorpius scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "I guess she didn't want to have an affair with a married man."

"Are you ignoring the fact that you're her half-sister's husband, or does that not matter to you?"

Teddy laughed at Scorpius's boldness. It was obvious that he didn't like Teddy, or his extramarital activities. He looked over at him, "Well, isn't it obvious that it doesn't matter to me, Mr. Malfoy?" He smirked a little before continuing. "I made a move on her…three years ago—wait, no, two years ago—but she rejected me. She sure knows how to make smack somebody," he joked. He idly rubbed his right cheek.

"Did anyone else know about your…lack of relationship?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes, everyone in this house does."

Scorpius was shocked. "Everyone?"

"Yes, everyone: Louis, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law. Even my wife knew about it."

"Did your wife have anything say to about your prospective affair?"

Teddy scoffed at Scorpius's question. "Well, of course she did. She told me she would ruin me if I cheated on her one more time."

Scorpius stopped taking his notes just long enough to ask his next question. "She was going to 'ruin you?' I guess that made you angry…"

"Well, of course…" Teddy paused before looking at Scorpius. "Wait, wait, wait. You're trying to insinuate that I would kill my wife, aren't you?" Scorpius looked at him calmly, his facial expression unchanging. "Oh, you are. You can stop that right now, Mr. Malfoy. There's no way I would do something so, so…so _awful_. I may be a cheating husband, but that doesn't mean that I would do something so terrible just so my wife couldn't ruin my life. I'd rather that she ruins my life than risk going to prison for the rest of my life." Scorpius nodded at what Teddy said.

"You did demonstrate that you can be forceful, and, well…keep talking, Mr. Lupin."

Teddy's eyes narrowed. "It's not like everyone else in this house didn't care about my relationship with Dominique," Teddy stated. "My mother-in-law especially; if Victoire didn't ruin me, her mother most _definitely_ would. After her, Louis would, since he hates the both of us, and then my father-in-law, although he's just as guilty as me when it comes to adultery.

"But Dominique, oh, Dominique," Teddy sighed, "she's an adamant woman. There's no way she would have affair with me, especially since I'm her brother-in-law. I guess even illegitimate children have some lines they don't cross." Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, but he shook his head instead. _First you're talking about how much more beautiful she is than your wife, and then you're talking about her in such a degrading way_, he thought, _no wonder she doesn't want to be with you_. "She's just impossible…an impossible desire…"


End file.
